Most health insurance plans offer free, preventive wellness visits, screenings, counseling and other services through in-network providers.
The Affordable Care Act mandates that private individual and group health insurance plans provide certain preventive coverage. Most cover blood pressure and breast cancer screenings, mammography, immunizations recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (including flu shots) and wellness visits. Often, these services are available to consumers without a copayment or coinsurance, even if they haven’t met their yearly deductible, as long as they receive them from a provider in their plan’s network.
You can learn more here about the 10 essential health benefits every plan covers.
Short-term health plans, health sharing ministries and other “alternative” health plans don’t qualify as “health insurance” under the ACA, so those types of policies may not cover preventive services.
Consumers should research their health insurance policies to find out which services are included and ask their doctors about the recommended ages for the tests, as well as any possible risks or side effects.
Free, preventive services for adults offered through all marketplace plans and many other insurance plans include:
Abdominal aortic aneurysm one-time screening
This is for men of specified ages who have ever smoked.
Alcohol misuse screening and counseling
Aspirin use
Covered when used to prevent cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer for adults 50 to 59 years with a high cardiovascular risk.
Blood pressure screening
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Cholesterol screening
This is for adults of certain ages or at higher risk
Colorectal cancer screening
This is for adults 50 to 75. On Medicare? Find out more here.
Depression screening
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Diabetes (Type 2) screening
This is for adults 40 to 70 years who are overweight or obese and obesity screening and counseling.
Diet counseling
This is for adults at higher risk for chronic disease.
Falls prevention
This covers adults 65 years and older living in a community setting, with exercise or physical therapy and vitamin D use.
Hepatitis B screening
This is for people at high risk, including people from countries with 2% or more Hepatitis B prevalence, and U.S.-born people not vaccinated as infants and with at least one parent born in a region with 8% or more Hepatitis B prevalence.
Hepatitis C screening
This is for adults at increased risk, and one time for everyone born between 1945 and 1965.
HIV screening
This is for everyone ages 15 to 65, and other ages at increased risk.
Vaccines
For diseases including Hepatitis A and B, measles, mumps, rubella, flu, HPV, tetanus and chickenpox. Getting a flu shot? Here’s where you can get it for free.
Lung cancer screening
This is for adults 55 to 80 at high risk for lung cancer because they’re heavy smokers or have quit in the past 15 years
Sexually transmitted infection prevention counseling
This is for adults at higher risk. Here’s how to find cheap (or free) STD testing in your city.
Statin preventive medication
This medication reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke by helping to lower cholesterol levels, for adults 40 to 75 at high risk.
Syphilis screening
This is for adults at higher risk.
Tobacco use screening
This is for all adults and cessation interventions for tobacco users.
Tuberculosis screening
This is for certain adults without symptoms at high risk.
What services are covered for women?
For women, most health insurance plans should cover services including: breast cancer mammography screenings every one to two years for women over 40; cervical cancer screenings; domestic and interpersonal violence screening and counseling, HIV screening and counseling and wellness visits.
Women can receive free contraception, though plans provided by certain religious employers and organizations may be exempt. Women who could become pregnant can receive folic acid supplements. Gestational diabetes screening is available for women 24 to 28 weeks pregnant and those at high risk of developing gestational diabetes. Pregnant and nursing women can receive breastfeeding support and counseling.
What services are covered for children?
Baby and child wellness visits are covered and include height, weight, mobility and other development checks. Many plans also offer free autism screenings for children, depression screenings starting at age 12 and blood pressure screenings from newborn through age 17. Behavioral, alcohol, tobacco and drug use assessments for adolescents are free through ACA and many private plans.
Here’s a primer on private health insurance.
Parents should also check their plans to see if screenings for dyslipidemia (high cholesterol in the blood) are covered for children, since high cholesterol is sometimes inherited. The ACA covers screenings for all children once between 9 and 11 years and once between 17 and 21 years, and more often for children at higher risk.
This article originally appeared on Policygenius and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
Featured Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
